Universal force from exhaustification: Farsi hame -i DPs

Abstract

Polarity items have been analyzed as existential DPs that introduce into the semantic derivation two types of alternatives: domain alternatives (corresponding to possible restrictions of the domain of quantification) and scalar alternatives  (corresponding to stronger quantificational forces.) This approach has led to the development of a typology of polarity items that is based on the types of alternatives that these items introduce (Chierchia 2013). What are the possible dimensions of variation? Bar-Lev & Margulis (2014) argue that the Hebrew determiner kol introduces domain, but not scalar alternatives. This paper shows that a class of Farsi DPs, which we call ‘hame -i DPs’, do too.